Rose displays quality control as Woods brandishes mettle

Justin Rose was the last man out here in the Masters last night, but was still threatening to be the first past the post come tomorrow evening. The young Englishman was one off the lead with one hole remaining and apparently consolidating his extraordinary opening day's performance.

The 26-year-old was trying to catch Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark, setting the pace at two-under, after a second round that was enthralling in its ebbs and flows. As ever, Tiger Woods grabbed the attention most forcefully, refusing to sink out of contention despite repeated visits to the drink and finishing with a remarkable 74 to lie at three-over, just five off the lead. The 31-year-old remains the favourite to win his third major in a row, although Augusta surely proved yesterday that anything and everything is possible.

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Rose should be telling himself that when he tees off this afternoon. If it had not been for three pulled six-footers on the 13th, 14th and 15th he would have headed up the last at the very top of the leaderboard. But that is not to demean his display of consummate control up to then.

Do not dare tell the cut-missers Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia, but on the whole it was a rousing Friday for Europe and the drive to end the barren eight-year spell of 29 majors without a win. There are four in the top 10, seven in the top 25 and the performances of Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey were particularly impressive.

The latter overcame not only the distraction of partnering Woods but also the baggage of an opening 79 to record a 68, that dragged him from nowhere into contention at three-over. "Paul played one of the greatest rounds of golf you'll ever see today," waxed Woods. Indeed, it is some feat to match the world's No 1 player over two rounds when playing alongside him in a major, no matter how erratically he is performing, and Casey could yet make the major impact he has long promised these next few days.

So, too, could Harrington, the world No 10, who emulated Casey's 68 and is even better placed on one-over par, in a tie for eighth. Also on that mark are David Howell and Bradley Dredge, the latter belying his debutant status quite emphatically with a 70 that should make Wales sit up and take notice. After them comes Luke Donald and Casey with Henrik Stenson also hovering with intent on four-over.

Harrington has a theory why the Europeans are threatening to stage an Eighties revival. "The course is playing more like I imagine it was in those days," said the 35-year-old. "It's what it was like when [Nick] Faldo won the Masters and all those other Europeans. It suits us having a little more firmness in the course."

But not all of the Ryder Cup boys were feeling so upbeat. The criticisms of the Augusta course changes ­ that were, in fact, implemented before last year's tournament, but which have only really begun to hit home in these fast and firm conditions ­ have been getting more discernible by the hour here, but nobody expressed them so vehemently as Lee Westwood, after his 73 scraped him inside the cut.

"Do I like this place? Not really, not any more," said the Englishman, who had just been desperately trying to make up for his first-round 79. "It just asks too many questions that there are no answers to. It used to be a shotmaker's course but now I don't think it is. When it was shorter, more of us would have had an answer, but now there are only six or seven people in the field that can win. It's not the type of golf I want to play."

Harrington's argument was a direct contradiction and, in truth, made a lot more sense. "No question about it, these conditions do bring a lot more styles of play into the mix," said the Dubliner. "There are a lot of players slightly shorter off the tee and can compete on this course now as the ball is running out there. It's not limited to one style of play." The leaderboard certainly backs up Harrington, as it features a variety of types; Clark is a plotter, Wetterich is a bomber. And with Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilvy the only major winners in the top 10 (on level-par and one-over respectively), the chances do appear good of an "outsider" winning. That group's odds have been assisted by the loss of Els ­ missing his first cut in major in eight years ­ although the proximity of Woods is still ominous, especially as he is likely only to improve. In Woods' own words last night: "I've just turned a 90 into a 74," and he was not exaggerating. His round was quite bizarre.

How, for instance, can a golfer who finds the drink twice on the back nine and suffers more personal disasters than he normally does in an entire, still contrive to play the inward half in one-under? Simple when you have the focus and sheer will to launch rescue after rescue before nicking a few birdies at the end. A fine example of how Woods stays in the moment came on the 13th tee when he brought his swing to a shuddering halt just before impact to allow the shadow cast by a few birds flying overhead to leave his ball.

"Of all the things I've seen him do, that was the most unbelievable," said Casey. "I don't know how he didn't break something. His intensity is on another notch." It will need to be if he is to claim his fifth green jacket tomorrow evening, but listening to Woods you could tell he fancies it. "Five shots back with the weather coming in ­ hey I'm right in this ball game," he said. But so, too, is Rose and a few fellow Euros. The weekend is set up just perfectly.

Complete first-round scores from Augusta

(US unless stated)

69 J Rose (GB), B Wetterich

70 D Howell (GB), D Toms

71 T Clark (SA), V Taylor

Z Johnson, R Beem,

J J Henry

72 D Love III, H Stenson (Swe),

B Bryant, T Herron, J M Singh (Ind)

73 S Verplank, R Sabbatini (SA),

L Donald (GB), T Woods (US),

V Singh (Fiji)

74 A Oberholser, A Scott (Aus),

J M Olazabal (Sp), T Hamilton, C Stadler, L Glover, F Zoeller,

T Immelman (SA)

75 I Poulter (GB), D Wilson,

B Dredge (GB), C DiMarco,

K Ferrie (GB), T Watson,

S Appleby (Aus), M Weir (Can),

K J Choi (S Kor), G Ogilvy (Aus),

C Howell, J Furyk,

Yang Yong-eun (S Kor), T Pernice,

J Kelly

76 B Mayfair, N O'Hern (Aus),

B Crenshaw, C Montgomerie (GB),

F Couples, S Garcia (Sp),

P Mickelson, *R Ramsay (GB),

B Curtis, C Pettersson (Swe),

J Sluman, S Ames (Can),

R Goosen (SA), M Campbell (NZ),

M Calcavecchia, B Quigley

77 *J Kelly, S Stricker, N Fasth (Swe),

M O'Meara, C Campbell,

A Cabrera (Arg), S Cink,

R Karlsson (Swe), R Pampling (Aus),

R Floyd, J Rollins, T Bjorn (Den),

P Harrington (Irl)

78 B Langer (Ger), E Els (SA),

J Edfors (Swe)

79 T Matteson, S Lyle (GB),

S Katayama (Japan), P Goydos,

M A Jimenez (Sp), R Allenby (Aus),

L Westwood (GB), B Crane,

P Casey (GB), A Baddeley (Aus)

80 J Durant, C Villegas (Col)

82 F Funk, S Micheel

83 L Mize, G Player (SA),

*J Guerrier (Fr), D Clarke (GB)

84 *D Womack

85 H Tanihara (Japan)

86 S Ballesteros (Sp)

87 *C Watabu

Withdrew: I Woosnam (GB)

* denotes amateur

Early second-round scores

(US unless stated)

142 B Wetterich 69 73, T Clark (SA) 71 71

143 V Taylor 71 72

144 Jerry Kelly 75 69, V Singh (Fiji) 73 71,

Z Johnson 71 73, J Rose (GB) 69 75

145 D Howell (GB) 70 75, L Glover 74 71,

P Harrington (Irl) 74 71, B Dredge (GB) 75 70,

S Appleby (Aus) 75 70, G Ogilvy (Aus) 75 70

146 J Furyk 75 71

147 T Herron 72 75, J M Singh (Ind) 72 75,

C Stadler 74 73, M Calcavecchia 76 71,

T Pernice 75 72, L Donald (GB) 73 74,

T Woods 73 74, P Casey 79 68 (GB),

D Wilson 75 72, M Weir (Can) 75 72

148 D Toms 70 78, H Stenson (Swe) 72 76

149 Yang Yong Eun (S Kor) 75 74,

R Sabbatini (SA) 73 76, D Love III 72 77,

J J Henry 71 78, P Mickelson 76 73,

J M Olazabal (Sp) 74 75

150 R Karlsson (Swe) 77 73,

S Ames (Can) 76 74, I Poulter (GB) 75 75,

S Verplank 73 77, B Crenshaw 76 74,

A Oberholser 74 76, K J Choi (Kor) 75 75

151 J Sluman 76 75, J Rollins 77 74,

A Baddeley 79 72, T Immelman (SA) 74 77,

B Mayfair 76 75

152 S Cink 77 75, C Pettersson (Swe) 76 76,

R Pampling (Aus) 77 75,

M A Jimenez (Sp) 79 73,

L Westwood (GB) 79 73,

R Goosen (SA) 76 76, F Zoeller 74 78,

B Quigley 76 76, S Lyle (GB) 79 73,

N Fasth (Swe) 77 75, R Beem 71 81,

A Cabrera (Arg) 77 75, F Couples 76 76,

A Scott (Aus) 74 78, C Howell 74 75

153 M Campbell (NZ) 76 77, C DiMarco 75 78,

T Watson 75 78, M O'Meara 77 76,

C Montgomerie (GB) 76 77

154 T Hamilton 74 80, D Clarke (GB) 83 71,

T Bjorn (Den) 77 77, *John Kelly 77 77,

C Campbell 77 77, E Els (SA) 78 76

S Garcia (Sp) 76 78

155 J Durant 80 75, F Funk 82 73,

B Langer (Ger) 78 77

156 B Curtis 76 80, N O'Hern 76 80,

S Stricker 77 79

157 R Floyd 77 80, B Crane 79 78,

J Edfors (Swe) 78 79

158 P Goydos 79 79, T Matteson 79 79,

K Ferrie (GB) 75 83

159 R Allenby (Aus) 79 80, S Micheel 82 77

160 G Player (SA) 83 77

161 L Mize 83 78

164 H Tanihara (Japan) 85 79,

*J Guerrier (Fr) 83 81

165 C Villegas (Col) 80 85, *C Watabu 87 78,

*D Womack 84 81

166 S Ballesteros (Sp) 86 80

* denotes amateur

Weather

* TODAY Sunshine and cloud but still cool. Gentle north-west breeze. Maximum temperature: 8C.

* TOMORROW Mainly sunny. North-west breeze decreasing to light. Max temp: 11C.

TV Times

Today

BBC 2, 20.30-24.00.

Tomorrow

BBC 2, 19.30-24.00.